Dreaming of Nightmares
by Quig Alchemist
Summary: Meryl can't sleep peacefully ever since Vash left town. She's having more and more nightmares so many, reality and her dreams are intermixing!


Author's Note: Hiyo, Quig here! Please read and enjoy! (By the way, I DON'T own Trigun…)

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Dreaming of Nightmares

"Vash?" A young woman's voice called out in the hazy darkness. "When are you coming home?" Black impaired the girl's vision, and all she could she was a faint flickering light. She began to stagger towards it; it was only a few feet away…just beyond her reach. The dark haired woman then tripped; before she could even shout for help, she began to tumble through the black unforgiving wasteland. It was another nightmare.

"Meryl?"

"W-what?!" The same woman as before stuttered and jumped suddenly. She had been leaning against a pole on her front porch. "What's the matter Millie?"

"You fell asleep again Meryl." Millie sighed and held out a steaming cup of tea. Meryl saw the gesture, and grasped the cup gratefully. She stared down at her feet, letting the tea warm her palms.

"Why does this keep happening to me Millie? I don't know what to do…" Meryl sighed, and brought the cup to her lips. The soothing liquid slid down her throat, and warmed her insides like a furnace. It was a cool day, so the warmth felt more than wonderful.

"Really Meryl, what's the matter? Is there something that you're not telling me?" Millie asked, concern filling her voice.

"No, I'm just…really tired…" Meryl yawned, and averted her eyes to the sky. _Especially since _he _left…_she thought sadly. Meryl had been standing out on the porch almost every day when she didn't have work, waiting for the man in red. The longer she stayed on that porch, staring off into the distance; the more doubt entered her mind that he would ever return from the fight with his brother. Millie wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder, bringing Meryl out of one of her many daydreams.

"Don't let it bother you Meryl…whatever it might be." Millie said, trying to cheer her up. A chilling wind blew across the porch, ruffling the two insurance girl's hair and clothes. "Brr!" Millie exclaimed, and drew her jacket tighter around her body. Meryl sneezed and shivered all over. Her teeth chattered so loudly, Millie could have sworn that someone was shaking a pair of maracas. "Oh Miss Meryl! You're catching a cold!"

"N-no Millie…I'll be…" Meryl was interrupted by a violent sneeze. "…Fine…"

"Now, now Miss Meryl, its off to bed for those who stand outside waiting all day, only to catch a cold!" She smiled sternly, but not without care. Millie hurriedly ushered Meryl inside and upstairs to her bedroom.

"Really Millie, I'm f-fine!" Meryl sniffed, and Millie drew the curtains tightly. Not a shred of light was getting into the room now.

"I suggest you try and get some rest now. I'll bring you some hot soup later." Millie smiled and walked out the door, pulling the door to behind her.

_I guess I really _am _tired…_Meryl thought, as she yawned again, and turned over, falling into a deep sleep.

"Meryl, Meryl! Come quick!" Millie screamed from downstairs. Meryl sat up quickly, and her head spun painfully. _I hate being sick…_She grumbled to herself, and rolled out of bed reluctantly. She stretched briefly, then snatched her purple robe off the bedpost, and slid her feet into a pair of matching fuzzy slippers. Synching her robe together tightly, she proceeded out the bedroom door.

"Meryl!" Millie wailed, suddenly alerting Meryl to the fear overflowing in her voice. She sprinted down the stairs, nearly tripping over a couple of steps along the way. Meryl rounded the post at the bottom of the stairs, and gasped as two firm hands swept her off her feet and held her fast. Another grubby hand covered her mouth, concealing a scream.

Millie was also held down, but unlike Meryl, it took _three _men to contain her instead of just one.

"Let me go!" The larger woman screamed, squirming as she was dragged out the front door, and into the cool night air. Meryl soon followed suit, though not by choice, and was thrown roughly into the dirt.

Meryl thought it wise not to move even though she was no longer being restrained; she was in enough pain already. She briefly looked up, and before lay an unmistakable horror: The town was in utter chaos. Bandits looted and robbed shops and homes. Wounded people called out from the pools of blood. The air was thick with gunfire and screams. Children wailed for their mothers, and many citizens were already dead. Fire ravaged buildings, and raged out of control. Its gruesome colors of red, orange, and yellow reflected off of everything, leaving the once happy town in complete devastation.

"Let's see how much blood you spill." A man said threateningly, and snatched Millie up by her long brown hair.

"How dare you!" Meryl yelled, but moments later she covered her mouth, wishing she had kept it closed in the first place. The man eyed the short brave woman, not sure what to think. As a response, he revealed a nasty-looking knife. Millie's eyes grew wide with a newfound fear, as the thin blade was forced against her neck.

"Anything else you want to say Missy?" He said gruffly to Meryl, and nicked a small part of Millie's neck for emphasis. A small crimson drop of blood meandered down the silver edge, soon dripping off, and staining the sandy surface of Gunsmoke. Meryl remained silent, wondering why she ever left the bedroom without her trusty derringers.

The dark shaggy haired bandit grinned at Millie with malice in his eyes. He pressed the blade closer to her throat, and his eyes met with Meryl's violet gaze. Before, this man had held all the cards, but now something was different; Meryl detected a change in his eyes as a wave of terror passed through him.

"It's…it's…!" The once terrifying thug stuttered with fright. He dropped his blade, and it protruded at an odd angle from the ground. Meryl was still speechless, not yet understanding why the man was acting so strangely. He scrambled to his feet, leaving the two women in the dust.

"It's…it's Mr. Vash!" Millie shouted gleefully, and rose to her feet. Meryl watched her stand, joy spreading across the brunette's face.

_Has he really come back?_ Meryl's heart fluttered. All she had to do was turn around and…a gunshot split the dark, star-filled sky. Millie dropped to her knees, surprise erasing the happiness that had been on her face moments before. Her hands shook wildly, and her breathing turned ragged.

"Millie!" Meryl screamed, as she saw blood begin to seep from her companion's chest. The wound was surely fatal, as the bullet was imbedded deeply into her heart. Shimmering tears began to stream down Millie's face, as a blend of shock and sadness possessed her eyes.

"Millie!" Meryl screamed again, and reached out to catch her dying friend, as she fell forward. Meryl wrapped loving arms around Millie and quietly shook with uncontrollable sobs. Millie's blood stained her own robe, and soaked through to her pajamas concealed beneath.

Meryl could feel her cheeks burning with anger intensely. She wanted to know who had taken her best friend's life. Millie didn't deserve death. Nobody did.

She slowly turned around, tears dripping from her cheeks, as she continued to clutch Millie's lifeless body tightly in her arms. She reached down and closed Millie's eyes with a short intake of breath. The eyes Meryl saw as they closed for the last time were filled with emptiness, and yet somehow…peaceful. Her icy blue eyes were still missing something, but Meryl decided that was just how the dead looked before she made herself too upset again. She then glared up at the man standing in front of her, and that, in itself, shocked her more than the death of her dear friend.

The one and only Vash the Stampede towered over her, casting shadows from the fire's light. His orange tinted glasses seemed to be the most pronounced thing about him; they glared at Meryl in the darkness, reflecting off the flames. She shuddered as his red coat blew in the soft breeze, causing her to shiver slightly, and the thin line of his mouth remained emotionless.

"Vash…?" Meryl asked so gently, it could have been a kiss of wind on her cheek. As the name left her lips, a silver gun aimed between her eyes like a flash of lightening cracking over the endless desert. Her bottom lip quivered in fear and utmost confusion. "Why…?" She whispered, not taking her eyes away from those two blazing lens. The dark man cocked the hammer, not saying a single word.

Meryl timidly gazed up the gun barrel, looking past his hand and arm, until her eyes met with his blank face, unmoved by the situation. She squinted through his glasses, and saw two cold blue eyes filled with hate and pain. Maybe she gasped, her breath taken away by the shock of anger encased in his eyes, but nobody really knew. One thing was certain; this day had turned into a nightmare.

In one last desperate attempt to see if this really was the infamous Vash the Stampede, she glanced to his abnormally light blonde hair: it seemed to be a much lighter, faded, and almost washed out sort of color. Not only was this a difference, but also the style of his hair was much shorter and definitely not spiked towards the sky. This man seemed to be a fake, but there was still one thing Vash couldn't have possibly changed with dye and a pair of scissors: the mole under his left eye. It wasn't there, to Meryl's delight, and instead sat dauntingly under the man's opposite eye. This man before her, Meryl was sure, was an imposter.

One final thought popped into her mind suddenly, and all she could breath was "Knives", as her world melted in a single shot. The thought that she received was not even her own. The man pointing a revolver to her skull had used telepathy, an amazing gift all plants have; especially twins.

_My brother is dead. _Was all Meryl needed to hear. That one simple fact had made everything very clear: Vash was dead, and this was his brother out for revenge and wrecking havoc because there was no longer anyone to stop his mad tirade. As that very last thought went through her head, and Knives pulled the trigger.

Everything flashed a blinding white, the opposite from other dreams and nightmares. Expecting the cold chill of death, Meryl lay flat, but instead, she felt a warm feeling surround her body. Softness was also present, as it pleasantly held her like a hug. _Was it all just a nightmare after all? _

Meryl was home. She still lay in her own bed, safe from all others.

Then she froze, and her heart skipped a beat. There was someone else in the room too. _Millie? _No, this person sounded different. The weight in their steps as they approached the bedside, along with the deep in and exhale of breath.

Meryl cracked open one eye, only to be cursed by darkness. Though, she _could_ see a faint silhouette of a man in red. She quickly closed her eye again, as she held her breath, trying not to gasp unnecessarily. _Maybe this nightmare never ended!_

The tall man bent over the dark haired woman, and hesitated a moment or two, before proceeding in lightly kissing Meryl's forehead. This was too much. Meryl's eyes shot open, and she was greeted with a wide smile that pained her heart when she realized how much she had missed it.

"Are you okay? I heard you weren't feeling well." The true Vash answered, his concern enclosing Meryl. She smiled, and stared up into his aquamarine eyes that filled her with joy that she had long forgotten she could express. It was like a breath of fresh air seeing him again, reminding her of all the things she loved.

"Never better." She replied happily, and watched the man that had been gone for so long return her favorite smile.

The End

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Hope you enjoyed it! Random yes, but apparently it was still interesting enough to get you to read it! Please review! Much appreciated!

Quig


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